December 30, 2020
Kiss 2020 good bye!
What could I possibly say about the end of the year 2020 that hasn’t been said in more ways than my feeble old brain can imagine. In hopes of not sounding like the head of the Department of Redundancy Department, let me say simply, “It is a year none of us will forget for as long as we are lucky enough to survive on our beleaguered planet.”
The far-reaching and still to be uncovered personal and societal impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic, the impacts of our entire region being trapped in an unprecedented conflagration, and the mind-boggling effects on all of us of learning how deeply infected our culture, our communities and our government are with systemic racism, give us a lot to reflect on as we turn the page on a new year.
But, in flipping that page, there is also a glimmer of hope. 2021 is a clean slate and we can write on it, draw pictures and color them in, or do whatever we want to make this next year better than the one now ending. I can’t even pretend to guess what you might put on your new, clean slate, but, I’m really excited about what we might create together.
My heart goes out to those who have suffered devastating loss during the past year. I know that there are very few of us who have not been touched in some way by the disasters of 2020. But, much like the fires that ravaged our region late last summer, some of us were relatively untouched, while others lost everything. While we can give thanks for still having homes for shelter, food to eat, and families that may not have lost dear members to Covid, we can find ways to help those most in need.
Let’s seek out agencies in our area that are serving those most severely impacted. Let’s spend a little extra money at a local business that is hanging on for dear life. And, as we take our occasional trips to town or for a country hike, let’s simply smile through our masks at passersby. How will they know, you ask? Well, if you haven’t noticed, during this past several months, our brains have enabled us to recognize each other despite our masks. Much of that recognition is knowing your friend’s and families’ eyes. And, believe me, smiling eyes have never been more important.
I wish you all a wonderful and less memorable New Year.
Fred Bassett
Chair, Tillamook County Democrats